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Dol-Hazzel Zoo
When the players arrive in Dol-Hazzel, the town is in a state of disrepair from a recent zoo escape caused by a Davrosian strike team. Speaking to townsfolk and zoo employees, they are hooked into a quest involving searching for three remaining missing creatures. The players should be given two descriptions on the way to Dol-Hazzel: One of the Bulette nest, and another of perfectly clean alleyways coming into the city. These are clues for two of the encounters. Zoo music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcSM-p1ch8E Kraken music: "Event Theme": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKs8NVjKgfE "Paint Boss": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXClZVWKlKc "Boss Battle": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uFpYEOGqV4 Bulette Tunnel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wXDUcEqdwo Bulette Nest Description "Just off the path you emerge into a small clearing. Around the edges lay the carcasses of dozens of bears, deer and wolves. In the center, a semicircle of raised dirt surround a mess of powdered bones and shattered egg shells. An old, thin, bald farmer stands in the center gathering the shells." Farmer: Terik Sibley "Oy! You startled me! I thought you might have been the male, coming back for a snack. Kekeke." Terg will explain that he is a farmer from just outside Dol-Hazzel, and that this is the nest of a land shark. A fearsome creature who can burrow beneath the surface of the earth and catch prey from below. The land shark will attempt to find a mate by creating a nest of ground bones, and surrounding it with slain creatures. When the eggs hatch, the remnants mix with the bones and create an excellent fertilizer. He seems confident that they will not return to the nest. What the players do not know is that Terik has found the cave the land sharks have dug, and poisoned them. A DC 18 insight check is required to find this missing information. A DC 16 nature check will reveal the real name for land sharks: Bulette. A DC 24 perception check will find the Bulette Burrow a fair distance away. Entering Town Description "The monotonous farmland gives way to paved roads and sturdy stone urban buildings. The population is roughly two-thirds dwarves, with many more humans that you have seen since your fateful voyage. The city is in a state of ruin. Windows are boarded up, and here and there walls are crumbled to rubble. Barrels and crates lay overturned and it seems that much of the townspeople's focus is on rebuilding from a recent disaster." If the players ask any townspeople about what happened, they will describe a group of Davrosians who landed here and caused trouble by releasing all the animals from the zoo. Additional Description "The roads further into the city are even more damaged than the outskirts. It's clear a stampede has made its way through the center of the city from the zoo to the north, down to the docks to the south. Oddly, in between unkept, garbage-strewn streets are random alleyways that seem nearly immaculate. Dwarves in green uniforms assist in cleaning up and searching nooks and crannies, presumably for animals. Two of these apparent zoo employees hang a banner: 'Dol-Hazzel Zoo, grand reopening - come visit the fearsome ancient red dragon, Kordekain!'" Mechanics The players may come across rogue gelatinous cubes in the clean alleyways. One citizen may describe a thief who took advantage of the chaos, and describe a fancy jade gemstone necklace that is missing. Players may later find it floating seemingly in midair inside a gelatinous cube. Gelatinous Cube - MM pg. 242 The Zoo Description Outside: "Hordes of people are lined up at the entrance to the zoo. A colorful red and yellow banner exclaims the grand reopening, and advertises Kordekain the dragon. To the sides of the entrance, two dragon statues flank the stone archway. Parts of the archway look recently repaired and the gates look brand new." Inside: "The entrance pathway leads to a center roundabout featuring another dragon statue marking the centerpiece of the zoo. Signs point multiple directions leading guests to the attractions." Sign 1: "Ixitxachitls, Mimics (MM pg. 220), Oozes (MM pg. 240), Displacer Beast (MM pg. 81), Security" Sign 2: "Bielburts, Intellect Devourer (MM pg. 191), Kraken, Wacky Wade's Water World" Sign 3: (One large sign with a rotating dragon head) "KORDEKAIN!" Oozes Exhibit Description Outside: "The entrance to the oozes exhibit is at the center of a large sculpted landscape built with a design of various creatures attempting to escape the grasp of a giant ooze. Stone steps lead down into a cave." Inside: "The path splits three ways - each corridor has a sign above it labeled 'Black Pudding', 'Ochre Jelly', and 'Gelatinous Cube'." Inside Gelatinous Cube Exhibit: "A deep square pit in the ground overlooks a labyrinth of 10 foot wide passages. A sign over the exhibit says 'closed for refurbishment - please pardon our ooze'. A placard at the base gives a description of the creature." Placard: "Gelatinous cubes scour dungeon passages in silent, predictable patterns, leaving perfectly clean paths in their wake. One is all but transparent, making it hard to spot until it attacks. A cube that is well fed can be more easily seen, since its victims bones, coins and other objects can be seen suspended inside the creature. - Sponsored by Juiblex - 'Taste the Slime!' -" Black Pudding: Sketching station with a cutout to put guests' head in running away from black pudding. Mechanics The players must track down the gelatinous cubes that have escaped into the city. They can be found by tracking the clean alleyways the players saw on the way in. No specific solution is needed, allow the players to be creative. Kraken Exhibit Description "A cave decorated with fake foliage leads down to an underground pool, with a large piece of glass separating the viewing area from the water. Refracted light bounces off the walls, making the entire room feel as if it is in motion. A sign at the base says 'closed for refurbishment - please pardon our slime'. Three large placards hang on the wall." Placard 1: A picture of a fully grown kraken is embossed in the metal. It is titled 'Sickening Summoning'. "The legend of the sickening, monstrous Kraken is known in many cultures around the world. But to many, it is just that - a legend. Our researchers have uncovered new evidence that suggests that not only is the Kraken real, but it is brought into this world through a magical stone known made of Perkinite. Everywhere a Kraken has been written of, there is written record of a great wielder of magic in the area around that time. Hielgof the Wicked during the attack on Isle Lisucha 600 years ago, or Davros the 8th during the Davrosian-Betaran war are just two telling examples. Where the stone now lives is as big a mystery as the origin of this great power itself." Placard 2: A picture of a large worm, similar to the Slorg embossed in the metal. It is titled 'The Complete Set'. "Our researchers have theorized that the Kraken's summoning stone is not the only one of its kind. Countless references to legendary monsters are scattered throughout the literature of many religions. We at the Dol-Hazzel zoo prefer a more scientific approach regarding these monsters. For instance, we believe the Great Slorg attack on Kazad Bridge was a creature summoned in a similar manner to the Kraken. With further research, we may some day discover the truth. Placard 3: A picture of a small kraken embossed in the metal. It is titled 'Summaculate Conception'. "So how do we at the Dol-Hazzel zoo have a kraken? Our researchers discovered this specimen deep in the middle of the eastern ocean, alone and with no one to protect her. Through magical gene sequencing we've determined beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is the spawn of the summoned Kraken, and will one day grow to full size. How does one reproduce without another? Perhaps the creature can replicate on its own through magic. Another wild theory is that it mated with a powerful shapeshifter. Although we can never know for sure. There is no known case for a shapeshifter mating with a summoned creature. Such an act would be strictly taboo and just plain gross." Wacky Wade's Water World Description "A maze of water slides and pools tower into the sky. A sign with the words Wacky Wade's Water World mark the entrance, along with a wooden grey haired man smiling and giving a thumbs up. The arm is mechanically articulated to rotate up and down." Mechanics The players will find the baby kraken here and it will try to escape. It's very slippery and requires a DC 24 dexterity check to grapple. It will travel in and out of water slides, and children get in the way. Bulette Exhibit Description "Two large statues of short, armored animals flank the entrance. Inside is a coliseum style pit with a number of holes in the ground. A living version of the statue outside rests in the center and zoo guests watch it nibble on some grass. A placard sits at the front of the railing." Placard: "The bulette, also known as a land shark, used to be common in this area but has since died out. These two are the last known of their kind. Our researchers have attempted to breed them, but with no luck. Their mating ritual is a site to be seen. The male will hunt various animals in the area and surround a nest of ground bones for the female to lay her eggs. They will then burrow underneath the earth to raise their young." Bulette Cave Mechanics The players will find the Bulette Cave a distance away from the nest they found previously. On entering they will find a dead, poisoned baby bulette. In the next cavern they will find another being eaten by two Troglodytes (MM pg. 290). At the bottom of the cave they will find the female bulette and the last remaining baby. (MM pg. 34) They must face the difficult decision to return the animal to the zoo or defy Kordekain. http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Bulette http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Troglodyte